


Flashbacks

by Stars_and_Scars



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26676817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stars_and_Scars/pseuds/Stars_and_Scars
Summary: McGonagall remembers the days of the Marauders.
Relationships: James x Lily, Jily - Relationship, Remus x Sirius - Relationship, wolfstar - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

Minerva McGonagall peered down at the timid first-year in front of her, so like his father in appearance yet so different in manner. "Yes, Mr Potter?", she asked for the first time in 12 years.

"Um... well, professor, you see... er... canutellmeaboutmydad?"

Minerva blinked. "I'm sorry?".

The small boy scuffed his feet along the cobbled stone floor of her office shyly, and repeated "Could you please tell me about my Dad? I really want to know more and I know you taught him so...?" Here he was, a boy of 11, the son of James Potter. A wave of affection crashed over her.

"Didn't your uncles tell you about him? I would have assumed they never stopped speaking about him at home", Minerva asked with a small chuckle. Sirius and Remus Lupin always insisted on being called Harry's uncles, out of respect for James, but in truth they were as much dads to the orphan boy than James would ever have been. Harry shook his head.

"I mean, they tell me what he was like and everything, and sometimes they say stuff like 'That's something James would do' or 'If James was here right now...', but I think it's too painful for them to tell me actual stories. So that's why I came and asked you", he finished, looking up at Minerva expectantly.

Suddenly, the woman's mind was flooded with memories of James Potter. 

An 11 year old James Potter, calling her Minnie for the first time with an expression of determined apprehension on his face.

A 13 year old James Potter, pulling off an unnecessary flourish as he caught the golden snitch in the first minute of the game.

A 15 year old James Potter loudly proclaiming "I knew it!" when Sirius and Remus walked into the Great Hall hand-in-hand one morning, and promptly proceeding to collect 3 galleons from Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew and Marlene McKinnon. She remembered the boy turning and winking at “Minnie” as she slipped Dumbledore 10 Galleons under the staff table.

A 16 year old James Potter stunning 3 Slytherins at once when they slurred his best friends' relationship, and glaring around at the rest of the Great Hall as if daring them to try and lay a finger on Remus and Sirius.

A blushing 17 year old James Potter, taking a deep breath as he slowly walked up to Lily on Valentines Day, a huge bouquet of roses hidden behind his back.

She saw an 18 year old James Potter, grinning broadly as his best friends got married, one arm around Lily and the other fiddling with a snitch like he was 13 again. Like he was young and innocent, and not about to go to war.  
She remembered the tears in his eyes as Lily walked up the aisle towards him. She remembered him deliver his vows with the most honesty and solemnity she had ever heard in his voice.

Images of James and Lily's first anniversary, James bouncing a baby Harry on his knee and James laughing as Harry sped around the room on a toy broomstick flashed through her mind.

She remembered James Potter, only 21, gathered in the living room of his house with the Order. Harry was crawling on the floor playing with Crookshanks, and the marauders were sitting around a coffee table. Sirius’s head resting on Remus’s shoulder, who was absent-mindedly stroking his husband’s hair. James’s arm around Lily, and their interlocked hands resting on the table as they gazed into the fire. The four best friends sat in murmured conversation, for a moment blissfully separate from the war raging around them. That was the last time they were all together.

A single tear rolled down McGonagall’s cheek, and she let it fall onto her mahogany desk.

"Of course, Harry", she said, in a voice quite unlike her own. "Of course I'll tell you everything".


	2. Memory 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lovely potter_redheads requested expansion of the memories so here is the first of 8 new chapters.

“An 11 year old James Potter, calling her Minnie for the first time with an expression of determined apprehension on his face.”

—————————————————————————-

James Potter tapped his leg nervously under his desk. He glanced over at his newfound best friend, Sirius Black, and shot him a grin. This was it. They were about to make their mark.

Professor McGonagall swept into the room like a hurricane, and the hushed whispers that had been circulating just moments before fell silent. 

“Students will please turn to page 14 and begin to silently read Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration.”

Breath baited in apprehension, James kept his eyes trained in the Professor, or, more specifically, the hand that was reaching into her deck for a quill. But what it emerged with was far less savoury. 

McGonagall let out a cry of surprise as the quill in her hand disappeared, and in its place lay a lump of cat food.

The class erupted in laughter as, trembling with anger, McGonagall rose to her feet. Voice dripping with rage, the professor spat out the words “Who is responsible for this?” (while barely achieving the minimum level of calm required to get the words out).

She glared down at the laughing class, eyes raking the rows of desks for any signs of guilt. Her efforts did not go unrewarded. The phrase “quick as a cat” was never more true than in the half-second it took Professor McGonagall to get from her desk to the back row of desks, where a certain Sirius Black was high-fiving a certain James Potter.

“Outside. Now”, was all the teacher could say before she strode to the door and slammed it behind her. The room went quiet. Reluctantly, the boys followed her out of the door and into the hallway.

“I suppose you think this is funny, do you?” McGonagall directed her question at the two snickering first-years in front of her. 

“Kinda.” The words had of course come from the mouth of the nefarious Potter boy. Fuming, McGonagall turned on him. Although she wasn’t undeniably furious, she could not deny the spark of fondness for this boy that was blooming in her chest.  
“Detention. Every day this week. And next week two.” The boys were saved from further extension of their punishment by the ringing of the beep to signal lunch. “You are dismissed”, she said calmly, and watched the boys as they disappeared into the already-filling hallway.

But when they were almost at the doors, James turned around again and locked eyes with his teacher. 

“Oh, and Minnie?”, he yelled, with an expression of determined apprehension on his face. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Bob appetit!”, the boy shrieked. Laughing, he and Sirius turned on their heels and ran the rest of the way to the great hall. Minerva shook her head and sighed. It was going to be a long 7 years.


End file.
